“The Republican Party is catching flat tax fever”, Stephen Thomma of the McClatchy Newspapers.

Most folks know that Herman Cain is pushing for a flat 9% income tax as part of his 9-9-9 plan. His plan has obviously appealed to many folks and its part of what has pushed him to the front of the Republican Party. Some of his rivals are now following suit. Perry, the Governor of Texas, also a Republican candidate, is now proposing a flat 20% income tax. Mitch Romney recently stated that he is going to come out with a new economic proposal that will include ways to reduce and simplify the tax code as well. You have Newt Gingrinch and Michelle Bachmann who have promised a flat tax and, not to be out done, Ron Paul wants to abolish income tax altogether. Currently the highest marginal tax rate is now 35% on income above $379,950.

As long as I have been practicing law there have always been debates about how to simplify the tax code or make it more fair. There have been many laws passed and many laws changed. But fundamentally the tax code has remained the same. How this all shakes out remains to be seen. One thing I feel confident in is that the IRS and their over 100,000 employees are not going to go away. If you have a tax problem, take action to solve to it now. The more in debt our country gets the more aggressive the IRS will get.